Bomb

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"We have many different kinds of bombs here. Some are used tactically to stop chasing guards or manipulate a crowd. Others are used to create diversions, a good way to handle guards before they attack."

―Yusuf Tazim, introducing Ezio Auditore to bombs in Constantinople, 1511.

A 16th-century smoke bomb

Bombs are explosive weapons used by Assassins from as early as the Middle Ages. They can be employed for a variety of tactics, including escape, assault, and distraction.

History

Antiquity

Although gunpowder, necessary for the crafting of any bomb, was only discovered by the Chinese in the 9th century CE, certain mercenaries in Classical Greece already made use of various bomb types during the Peloponnesian War. The Medjay Bayek of Siwa was also known to carry smoke and fire bombs during the 1st century BCE, which could be used to vanish from enemies' sight or set foes alight.

Middle Ages

Basim escaping from a group of guards after using a smoke bomb

During the 9th century, members of the Hidden Ones of Alamut like Basim Ibn Ishaq were granted access to various types of bombs to aid them in their missions, including smoke bombs, useful for avoiding detection by guards; noisemakers, used to lure enemies away by producing a loud sound; and traps, non-lethal explosive devices which detonated once stepped on. Each of these devices was provided by the Banū Mūsā brothers Abu Jafar, Ahmad, and Al-Hasan and could be further upgraded and personalized by applying different effects to them to suit each Hidden One's needs.

The usage of bombs carried over to the Levantine Assassins, who still widely utilized them in the late 12th century. During his quest for the Chalice, the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad carried both smoke and explosive bombs, using the latter to destroy weakened walls and structures.

Renaissance

During the Renaissance, smoke bombs were commonly available to the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who could initially carry a maximum of three at once. During the liberation of Rome, Ezio had to buy a new pouch from one of the local tailors in order to equip smoke bombs once again. Moreover, his Assassin recruits were able to use them to stun guards once they reached the rank of Veterano.

A notable usage of explosive bombs occurred during the attack on Valencia: after Ezio, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Leonardo da Vinci had sailed to Spain in their search for Cesare Borgia, they discovered their enemy had been amassing a sizeable military force in the city. Leonardo instantly devised and crafted ten hand-held bombs for his two companions; each was a small, steel ball filled with sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, which possessed a small fuse requiring lighting before the device could be detonated. The two Assassins used them to break havoc against the Borgia fleet and military encampment, effectively scattering Cesare’s forces.

Piri Reis holding a Caltrop bomb

Upon traveling to Constantinople on his quest to open the Library of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio gained access to a far more extensive variety of bombs, as the city's local Assassins had recently taken a keen interest in crafting the explosives after the Chinese had introduced them to the weapons. In particular, Ezio was mentored in bomb crafting and techniques by the Master Assassin Piri Reis, who had in turn been introduced to them through his uncle Kemal. Piri assigned Ezio easy tasks in order to understand the way every kind of bomb worked. Bombs were such a common asset in the area that the Ottoman Army, as well as their counterparts of the Byzantine insurgency, were both able to field bombmen, who deployed thunder bombs.

Sengoku period

During the late 16th century, the kunoichi and Japanese Assassin Fujibayashi Naoe wielded smoke bombs as part of her arsenal of tools.

Age of Enlightenment

Bombs were also available to Assassins and Templars operating in the Caribbean and Colonial America during the 18th century, such as Edward Kenway, Haytham Kenway, Ratonhnhaké:ton, and Shay Cormac. Edward crafted his own upgrades for his bomb pouch to increase its capacity, just as Shay and Ratonhnhaké:ton would later do.

The most common bomb type during this period was the smoke bomb, in part due to its wide availability, as it was sold in general stores throughout the Caribbean and the American colonies. However, the Louisianan Assassin Aveline de Grandpré could only purchase them from black market merchants, while the samurai Shimazu Saito wielded her own makeshift smoke bombs. Smoke bombs also saw wide usage among the Assassin-affiliated gangs of New York City.

Shay firing his grenade launcher

In 1756, after Shay received a grenade launcher attachment for his air rifle from Benjamin Franklin, he could use the weapon to fire either Shrapnel, Sleep, or Berserk grenades.

Another type of explosive used during this period were trip mines, wielded exclusively by Ratonhnhaké:ton. While intended to be placed at strategic locations, where they would detonate once stepped on by an unsuspecting soldier, Ratonhnhaké:ton could also use the mines in combat by sticking them on his assailants and then throwing them away, causing an explosion.

During the French Revolution, the French Assassin Arno Dorian wielded smoke and cherry bombs. Later, during his time in Franciade, Arno acquired the Guillotine Gun, a hybrid weapon combining an axe and a grenade launcher, allowing Arno to launch deadly explosives at his enemies.

Victorian era

In Victorian era London, the twin British Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye wielded smoke and voltaic bombs. The latter were a gift from their inventor friend, Alexander Graham Bell, and released an electrical shock upon detonation, instantly knocking out enemies within a small radius.

A fear bomb

After training with the Indian Brotherhood in their later years, Jacob and Evie introduced a new type of weapon to the British Assassins developed by their Indian brethren. Dubbed "fear bombs", these halluncinogenic devices induced terror in those exposed to them, allowing the Assassins to non-fatally subdue their targets or even terrify their enemies to the point of making them abandon any conflict. Fear bombs were widely used by the rogue Assassin Jack the Ripper during his attempt to seize control of the British Brotherhood in 1888, and partly contributed to his terrifying reputation.

In 1841, smoke bombs were used by the Indian Assassin Arbaaz Mir during his quest to recover the Koh-i-Noor and the Precursor box from the British Templars. The Russian Assassin Nikolai Orelov also wielded smoke bombs during his mission to protect Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna in 1918.

Modern times

Smoke bombs appeared as one of the abilities usable by Abstergo Industries recruits in the primary and secondary stage of their Animus Virtual Training Program, with tripwire bomb added to the secondary stage. Smoke, tripwire, and money bombs could be used by players in the Abstergo Entertainment product set during the American Revolution, while smoke and tripwire bombs were available to Animus Omega players.

Berg sustaining injury from Maestranzi's bomb

Assassins still wield bombs well into the modern era. When a Templar strike team led by Juhani Otso Berg attacked a hideout in Florence in late 2012, the elderly Assassin Adriano Maestranzi detonated a bomb to blow up the hideout, killing himself alongside most of the Templar strike team, save for Berg himself, whose face was hence scarred. In 2016, Owen Meyers destroyed two Abstergo helicopters sent to chase him down with an EMP grenade.

In 2017, Heinrich Hart, a member of the Instruments of the First Will, detonated a Skunkworks "endgame" grenade in an attempt to kill Juhani Otso Berg when the Templar confronted him in Berlin. Although Berg survived by jumping into a river, the grenade's blast radius was large enough to destroy several city blocks, claiming the lives of 170 people. Later, in August 2018, Berg used another Endgame grenade to destroy the Phoenix Project facility in Australia.

In 2023, the Assassin Nathan Zhang threw a grenade at Abstergo's task force, Sigma Team, during a shootout at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, killing several operatives and allowing Nathan and Yuki to escape during the confusion. Later, while infiltrating Yangon's harbor, Nathan threw a stun grenade into the room where two Sigma operatives were holding his men prisoner, blinding the Templars and allowing Nathan to gun them down and free his men. During her final stand against Sigma Team, Yuki detonated a grenade after being mortally wounded, killing both herself and the operatives around her in a massive explosion.

Craftable bombs

"Crafting explosives is a new hobby, one we borrowed from the Chinese and have taken to with great passion."

―Yusuf Tazim speaking of the Ottoman Assassins' bomb-crafting, 1511.

Yusuf Tazim instructing Ezio in bomb crafting

Bombs held a special relevance to the Ottoman Assassins in the early 16th century. Upon his arrival to Constantinople, Ezio learned from his fellow Assassin Yusuf Tazim how to create a wide range of bombs, with up to 120 variations. In general, they could be divided into three categories: lethal, tactical and diversionary. In order to craft bombs expeditiously whenever they acquired the needed ingredients, Assassins set up bomb-crafting stations throughout Constantinople and Cappadocia.

The bombs could be customized based on their different components: casing, gunpowder layer, and effect layer. The casing affected the bomb's structure, while the gunpowder layer defined the properties of the explosion itself, with the effect layer determining the bomb's contents, such as a payload of caltrops.

Throughout his time in the city, Ezio was able to collect different ingredients for each of these bombs, and could craft or purchase from black market dealers up to a maximum of five bombs per pouch. Ingredients could be bought from Piri Reis' workshop in the Grand Bazaar, doctors, and blacksmiths, but they were sometimes given to him as rewards from other cities liberated from the Templars.

Type	Effect
Caltrop Bombs	Caltrop bombs impeded enemy movement by dispersing small, pointed metal spikes across the ground, rendering its victims vulnerable during combat. They could also be used for halting or slowing enemies during a chase.
Datura Bombs	A lethal explosive designed to slowly poison anyone who breathed in its fumes, Datura bombs instilled a sense of delirium in its victims, due to the use of the petals from the datura plant.
Cherry Bombs	Cherry bombs could lure guards towards a certain area through the use of a loud, high-pitched noise, produced from using sulfur.
Smoke Decoy Bombs	Similar to Cherry bombs, these bombs lured guards to one point by creating the illusion of a fire, but only those who could see its activation. Smoke Decoys required the used of salt of Petra to be created.
Gold Bombs	Filled with pyrite coins, these bombs were used to create distractions by attracting a crowd of civilians who mistook the coins for gold. This would distract guards and occasionally start a brawl when the guards attempted to clear the area.
Splinter Bombs	Used to kill or injure targets upon impact, the Splinter Bomb could dispense with groups of enemies caught in its deadly radius with shrapnel, as well as blow away the cover on wells located around Constantinople.
Thunder Bombs	These bombs were a non-lethal method, filled with coal dust, and used to cripple targets with the force of the explosion only, as well as allowing those wielding them to break apart covers on wells.
Blood Bombs	Once detonated, this bomb released out a splatter of lamb's blood, making nearby individuals believe it to be their own, thereby scaring them away.
Smoke Screen Bomb	A tactical smoke bomb which, when exploded, created a dense, black smoke from phosphorus to daze nearby guards and civilians and block their sight.
Stink Bombs	When detonated, Stink Bombs released a foul odor, derived from skunk oil, that repelled any and all of those who came too close.

Behind the scenes

Assassin's Creed II

The smoke bomb pouch is labelled as "small", despite not having any upgrades available for it, where other pouches labelled the same way had medium and larger variants.

During one of the Carnevale challenges in Venice, the three guards and Dante Moro, whom Ezio fought, were immune to the effects of smoke bombs.

While looting Brutes, there was a high chance of obtaining smoke bombs.

Smoke bombs are helpful for earning the achievements "No Hitter", "Messer Sandman", and "Sweeper".

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Cesare Borgia and pickpockets were completely immune to smoke bombs' effects. Papal Guards were immune to the effects of smoke bombs in combat. However, it was possible to stun them outside of combat.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

The achievement "Pyromaniac", as well as an extra space in Ezio's bomb pouch, can be earned upon completing all of Piri Reis' bomb missions. A fifth bomb in each pouch could only be acquired if the Signature or Animus Editions of the game were pre-ordered, or if the downloadable Lost Archive memories had been purchased.

Others

In Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy, smoke bombs required the reagents of gunpowder and sugar to be crafted.

In Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, various mercenaries met throughout the game occasionally used bombs in battle. This was not acknowledged in any way in the game itself, nor could the player use bombs; certain abilities gained by leveling up simulated some of the effects, like enabling disappearing.

Gallery

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  A fire bomb used by Bayek
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  A smoke bomb used by Basim
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  A noisemaker used by Basim
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  A trap used by Basim
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  An Ottoman illustration of various types of bombs
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  Ezio at a bomb crafting station
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  Ezio aiming a bomb at a group of guards
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  Ezio throwing a bomb at a guard
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  Piri Reis showing a trip-wire bomb to Ezio
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  A berserk grenade used by Shay
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  A sleep grenade used by Shay
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  A shrapnel grenade used by Shay
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  A trip mine used by Ratonhnhaké:ton
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  Smoke bombs used by Aveline
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  A French Assassin holding a smoke bomb
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  A smoke bomb used by Jacob and Evie
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  Heinrich Hart holding an Endgame grenade
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  Nathan Zhang holding a stun grenade
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  Yuki detonating a grenade

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles
• Assassin's Creed II
• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed III
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
  • Jack the Ripper
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (not usable)
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • Wrath of the Druids
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows